Tag: birth

Everything went according to “plan”. She was born the very day we hoped to have her (for a variety of reasons), the beginning of the 38th week of pregnancy, the morning after a restful Shabbat. The birth was at home, and went perfectly. Labor was just a few hours, and the delivery was done in the water. It was all quite amazing.

Now I’m dealing with the exhaustion, the emotions, the new challenges that each unique baby brings. Yes, I’ve done this four times before. But I’ve never done it with this baby. She’s worth every moment.

I just read a great article, on Quality Health, put out by Reuters Health in New York. It states that for low-risk births, home is as safe as hospital.

“Low-risk women should be encouraged to plan their birth at the place of their preference, provided the maternity care system is well equipped to underpin women’s choice,” Dr. A. de Jonge, from TNO Quality of Life, Leiden, the Netherlands, and co-researchers note in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

I am tired of people looking at me like I have two heads when I say that I am planning to give birth at home, that I have done so for all four of my babies, and that I wouldn’t want it any other way. Even if it is free of charge in the hospital, and I’d have to pay out of my pocket for a midwife at home. (we have socialized medicine here in Israel.)

I think the tide is turning.

“The findings, they conclude, indicate that with proper services in place, home births are just as safe as hospital births for low-risk women.”

This study was done in the Netherlands, a place that has a lower rate of both maternal and fetal deaths than the US. Maybe we should listen to them.

People are getting wise to the motivation (from the hospital’s side) behind most hospital births, and I am so glad to see more people seeking alternatives. The documentary movie The Business of Being Born gives great details about hospital births; watch the trailer here: http://bit.ly/f1TziCindy Crawford chose to have a home birth and shares her story in 4 parts. Here is the link to watch part 4 of her interview:

For obvious reasons, I have Birthing On My Mind. I can’t believe our little GIRL might be here in FOUR weeks! Maybe five or six. But either way, it’s soon.

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately on the web, researching things related to a more Natural Lifestyle for this blog. I’ve noticed what seems to be a trend: more people are becoming less satisfied with the “standard” hospital birth. Those same people are helping to publicize Natural Childbirth, which almost always means Home Birth.

This is Good.

In getting closer to my own birthing experience and poking around on the web, I’ve discovered something: I am very passionate about hombirth. I see these interviews and read of people’s experiences and tears stream down my face as I feel sad for those who don’t know how peaceful and wonderful the birth experience could and should be.Here is an extremely well-done video which further helps convey some reasons we choose to birth at home. For anyone considering this, or just wanting to know more, WATCH THIS.

Which sounds better to you: Bright lights, strangers walking in and out checking machines that make beeps, being strapped to a table, unable to choose whatever position is most comfortable, being cut open because you’re taking to long…..

OR

Your own comfortable home with a few select friends or family, your favorite relaxing music, the lights low, able to do whatever feels best?

I love homebirth. I completely trust my body to know what to do; it was created to do it. Birth is not an illness, and it has no place among the sick in an atmosphere of fear.I have had all four of my children in a home birth setting with a certified nurse midwife attending. I can’t imagine doing it any other way, and I hope that I never need to.

Five children. I will soon have five children. I can’t believe it; I am so excited! (and nervous, and Oh My Goodness how am I going to manage….FIVE.) Our other four are boys. In this house of lots of testosterone (well, it’ll be more when they get a little older), we are soooo ready for a cute little GIRL. And she’s coming in August.

This was the first time I found out the gender of the baby ahead of time. We were of the school of thought, “there are so few genuine surprises in life, let’s really experience this one.” So we did. Again, and again. And they always came out with that darned little dangling thing! So, this time, I didn’t want a surprise. At least not another boy kind of surprise. So, we found out that’s it’s all sugar and spice and everything nice this time. I can’t wait to dress her up in all that frilly stuff!

Some think we’re a little crazy to have so many. Are we? I am an only child, and was always lonely. I always pictured a full dining table with lots of noisy little people, all being part of my family. We’re getting there. We also believe that children are a blessing, and I certainly have been blessed to be so fertile…so many people long to have children, and all I have to do is blink (well, not really) to get pregnant. I love that my kids always have someone to play with and learn with, and that we all get to have so many relationships.